John Llewellyn ProbertReseñas

*Thanks to Netgalley for letting me read the book in exchange for a honest review*

So folks, I really, really, really wanted to love this book, especially since I am a big fan of Lovecraft and his universe. At the risk of sounding like a total dweeb (although I may have already failed because who says dweeb nowadays?) I even played the Call of Cthulhu table top game because I love Lovecraft horror so much. The beginning of the book shows two teenage boys breaking into a construction site, H.G. Wells old home to find some treasure. My mind played it out like a movie and I loved that, Probert has such an amazing way with words and horror writing in general that when those creepy parts came up I actually cringed at it as if I was seeing it in real life. While this book did not give me nightmares (that would take a lot to do), anyone who was not used to horror genre may have trouble.

The beginning of the book had such great pacing, it seemed as if things would settle down, then it would come back, settle down again and take you for another ride. The story itself was great, the setup, the backstory, the creepiness of the church. I loved that he used characters I knew of to set the history. I even recommended that my husband read it and I don't ever do that. The newspaper articles, the scribbled notes, the transcripts from news shows added major depth to a already great written book.

While I loved the story, and Probert's writing, his characters just didn't do it for me. When the story would turn it's focus to a character I hated it. I didn't like anyone of them. Honestly if they all died I think it would have made the story for me. Karen and Chambers the two main characters annoyed the hell out of me, their emerging romance, their dialogue, Their actions just made me scoff as well as want to just skip pages. I couldn't connect to them in anyway that made me root for them. I really wanted to like Chambers considering he is a forensic pathologist a field I want to get into, but I just still couldn't like him.

Anything thing that bothered me was even though this book is the first in it's series I felt as if I was missing a book, as if this was not the first but the second in a ongoing series. The characters would mention a person or a event that had occurred and I wondered if I have accidentally skipped something, I even made a search just to double check that this was the first book. It didn't give me the setup or backstory I needed, maybe that's why I couldn't connect to the characters because I felt like I was missing something.

This was a lot of fun! I'm a sucker for a good cover and this one reminded me a lot of some personal artwork of mine. It was a rather fast read but I blame that partially on the quick pace which was very fitting for the scenario the characters were in. I enjoyed it quite a bit, if you're looking for fast-paced horror that rounds out well with humor and well-written characters give this a go STAT. And you can never go wrong with demons.

I really enjoyed these stories, even stayed up past my bedtime reading them, which was probably unwise given the horror genre.
Now, I’m fairly new to horror, so the foreword was a bit over my head and I have to admit I skimmed a lot of it to get to the actual stories faster.
Once I got there, the book took the form of a frame story about amnesiac Robert, who travels through Wales trying to find a way to regain his memory, while being told stories at every turn. I was invested in Robert, as well as the various protagonists of the stories within the story. I think my favourite of these was ‘The Church With Bleeding Windows’, which combined a bit of gore with humour. I also loved the deliciously creepy “By Any Other Name”. I’d recommend this to any horror fan.

First of all, the introduction by Ramsay Campbell doesn't do the book a favor.
I thought it annoying, very patronizing & condescending in tone and even a bit spoiler-y. So much so it nearly put me off reading the book, which would have been a pity. If it must be included, it would fit much better at the end of the book as an afterword; when it doesn't spoil you anymore and you've come to your own feelings and insights.

That being said, the novel itself is a portmanteau book. In the story which forms the framework we meet Robert, who seems to suffer from amnesia, at the Welsh border and follow him on his increasingly strange journey/road trip through Wales as he searches for his lost memory, identity and purpose.
Most of the book consists of previously published short stories, woven together by the background story and their common topics of Welsh heritage, ancient wisdom of the land, religion, surrealism, horror, pulp, terror and a sense of dread.

I must say I liked the first stories of the book, where the horror was more abstract and psychological, more than the later ones that became more gruesome and explicit in terms of torture and pulp. The framework narrative I felt was also stronger at the beginning between the first chapters and got more vague towards the ending. The conclusion of the book which tied all the stories together, however, was very satisfying again.
And the short stories which make up the main part of the book? Regardless of whether I enjoyed them a lot (the more psychological ones) or not as much (torture and body horror just isn't my jam); they are well-written myth-steeped pieces full of terror and suspense, very Lovecraftian in style. They are going to stick with you. Even if you are an avid reader of stories dark and grim, I bet you won't forget about most of the stories anytime soon.
I can also honestly say I never before read a book of such Welshness. 'wink'...
If you like myths, pulp, surrealism, road trips, Wales, suspense, folktales and/or classic horror, this is good stuff.

I received this eARC via LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program - Thanks, LT! - in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great, spooky read! I wasn't sure what to expect going in so watching this book unfold was a fun and bone-chilling experience. I loved the framework of the book - short stories that were tied together by an overarching plot. Some of these stories are going to stick with me for a very long time! The Welsh backdrop really added to the mood of the book and I found Robert to be a character that I was rooting for, even as he descended deeper into the strangeness of what was happening to him. The payoff at the end of the book was perfect - I really couldn't think how things were going to come together but the author managed an ending that was so satisfying and yet still left the door open for the future. I would absolutely read another of these if it ever became a series!

An interesting read, despite being a bit on the sclock side of horror fiction for my tastes. I really prefer horror to be psychological rather than anatomical (the latter being too much like a former job of mine). Still, the grimdark Welsh setting moved it from the butcher’s shop and into Gothick territory, especially the decaying mansions used as settings for some of the stories. The portmanteau structure meant it was easy to drop in and out; I think as a single novel this would have been a ‘did not finish’. The stories were quite Bensonian in places with Lovecraftian overtones. Recommended if you like your horror on the cerebral side.

How Grim Was My Valley by John Llewellyn Probert.

I got an e-book copy of this thanks to LibraryThing, in exchange for a honest review. I thought I would like it and it would fit my style when I requested it from the Early Reviewers List, and I was not wrong, it delivers what it promises. It even has an introduction by the great Ramsey Campbell praising it, and that must mean something. Also, the author is from Wales through and through and it shows, as it should in a book like this.

Moreover, the title caught my eye with its game of words... Very adequate and to the point.

This work does not hide its influences: Lovecraft, mostly, Machen... Which I have read often and with pleasure.

The form is a series of tales, united by a common thread, which is discovered at the end. This way of narrating and this ending (i don't want to give spoilers here) is not exactly original, but it is adequate.

Every story is more or less unique, imitating a style, and leading towards the conclusion. And there could easily be a second series of stories, now that we know what it is really about. It would lose the surprise element if you hadn't guessed it, but it would allow other things for the development.

These stories stay with you like oil clinging to your skin. You can’t seem to wipe them away!
Very much enjoyed this book and so glad I got an opportunity to read it. I am a lover of short stories and collections and this is my first time reading this author. Being of Welsh descent I loved reading stories taking place and woven into Welsh folklore. Reads like a Welsh Lovecraft collection with the stories very reminiscent of those New England tales. While I enjoyed all of the stories in this collection, I believe “Somewhere beneath a maze of sky” was my favorite. Interestingly, the one that disturbed me the most wasn’t the most graphic ones but the one which seemed the most innocuous called “What others hear”. Having suffered from tinnitus, I couldn’t imagine this level of sound not making someone ‘mad’. You could feel the protagonist's anxiety building like the music. Very much enjoyed this book and its stories! Completely amazing! I was afraid that the stories would get weaker as I got further in the book but they actually became stronger and more impactful. Highly recommend to anyone who likes stories stories especially those with a surrealist quality to them.

Nice, respectable, well-written horror located in Wales.
How Grim Was My Valley consists of various short stories that are loosely connected by a narrative framework: Robert wakes up near his car directly behind the Welsh border with no memory about himself. He sets out on a journey through the country where he is told lots of stories about sinister and downright scary proceedings in the area.
I liked the style a lot. This is not horror that lives on the gory details. While the reader isn’t treated with kid gloves, either, it’s more the eerie scenery, the whole atmosphere Probert creates that makes the book a really chilling experience.
A quick read, full of suspense. Lots of traditional style horror fun. Lovecraft fans should definitely have a look!

The Black Book Of Horror is the first in a series of horror anthologies published by Mortbury Press. As soon as I saw the gorgeous covers I knew that I wanted the entire set even though I am not familiar with the authors. I did notice some nominations for the British Fantasy Award but winning or losing would not have swayed my desire to get my hands on these books. I don't have a lot of experience with British horror other than having enjoyed the Hammer House of Horror series when I was a kid. Since I have found in my limited experience that British horror tends to be a bit more subtle than what I am used to on this side of the pond, I expected this would be more atmospheric than blood soaked. Well subtle I can take, but vague I can not. Some of these stories were so vague that they seemed more like a wisp of idea for an outline than an actual finished product. For example I could sum up "Spare Rib" as once upon a time a man's wife died but then she came back and he left for work. The End. Seriously that's a story in here. In another story a Nazi skin head and his pals desecrate a grave and then take off their pants and boots. The End.
Not to say they were all bad, there were some 3 and 4 star stories among the duds. The only 5 star mentions go to "Size Matters" more for it's dark humor than for anything frightening. Yes it is a story about a penis enlargement gone wrong, and Lock-In by David A Riley which actually was a scary story about a handful of men trapped in a pub by a creeping black void of nothingness that awaits them outside. 4 stars to Last Christmas (I gave you my life) Family Fishing, and Subtle Invasion.
I'm hoping the rest of the series has more 5 star stories than this did.

The Lovecraft Squad is a book that was very promising at the beginning of the book, but unfortunately didn't manage to be interesting all the way until the end.

I loved the beginning of the book. Two boys are investigating a building site and they find a skull, a bone and a pot in the place where H.G. Wells house once upon a time had stood. I found this part chilling and the story just kept on being interesting, the discovery of scrolls that tells about the end of time. It was fascinating and intriguing and the idea of 7 people entering the haunted All Hallows Church and spending four days there sounded so incredibly awesome.

However, it's here the story started to drag a bit. At first, I loved the events (apparitions, etc.) at the church, but it came to a point when the story just didn't intrigue as much as it had before. The "surviving" members of the team is going beneath the church and into another world, it was pretty easy to see which world this was, but it took some time before this was addressed by one of them (hint a classic book about hell). And, they traveled from one level to another and I grew more and more bored and I had a suspicion that a certain twist would occur here and I was right.

But, despite this did the book end in an interesting way, and yes I would read the next book in the series. Partly because of the cliffhanger ending, but I did find the book, for the most part interesting.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

The Lovecraft Squad is a book that was very promising at the beginning of the book, but unfortunately didn't manage to be interesting all the way until the end.

I loved the beginning of the book. Two boys are investigating a building site and they find a skull, a bone and a pot in the place where H.G. Wells house once upon a time had stood. I found this part chilling and the story just kept on being interesting, the discovery of scrolls that tells about the end of time. It was fascinating and intriguing and the idea of 7 people entering the haunted All Hallows Church and spending four days there sounded so incredibly awesome.

However, it's here the story started to drag a bit. At first, I loved the events (apparitions, etc.) at the church, but it came to a point when the story just didn't intrigue as much as it had before. The "surviving" members of the team is going beneath the church and into another world, it was pretty easy to see which world this was, but it took some time before this was addressed by one of them (hint a classic book about hell). And, they traveled from one level to another and I grew more and more bored and I had a suspicion that a certain twist would occur here and I was right.

But, despite this did the book end in an interesting way, and yes I would read the next book in the series. Partly because of the cliffhanger ending, but I did find the book, for the most part interesting.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

It wasn't what I was expecting but I did enjoy it a lot. I was expecting it to be a bit scarier, though I did find it scary. I wasn't expecting how funny it was. The dialogue was truly awesome. Perhaps that is what kept it from being too scary for me. If you are looking for a haunted house to spend a chilly, dreary day in, get this book. I read it on a windy night and the howling wind just made the atmosphere perfect!

*Thanks to Netgalley for letting me read the book in exchange for a honest review*

So folks, I really, really, really wanted to love this book, especially since I am a big fan of Lovecraft and his universe. At the risk of sounding like a total dweeb (although I may have already failed because who says dweeb nowadays?) I even played the Call of Cthulhu table top game because I love Lovecraft horror so much. The beginning of the book shows two teenage boys breaking into a construction site, H.G. Wells old home to find some treasure. My mind played it out like a movie and I loved that, Probert has such an amazing way with words and horror writing in general that when those creepy parts came up I actually cringed at it as if I was seeing it in real life. While this book did not give me nightmares (that would take a lot to do), anyone who was not used to horror genre may have trouble.

The beginning of the book had such great pacing, it seemed as if things would settle down, then it would come back, settle down again and take you for another ride. The story itself was great, the setup, the backstory, the creepiness of the church. I loved that he used characters I knew of to set the history. I even recommended that my husband read it and I don't ever do that. The newspaper articles, the scribbled notes, the transcripts from news shows added major depth to a already great written book.

While I loved the story, and Probert's writing, his characters just didn't do it for me. When the story would turn it's focus to a character I hated it. I didn't like anyone of them. Honestly if they all died I think it would have made the story for me. Karen and Chambers the two main characters annoyed the hell out of me, their emerging romance, their dialogue, Their actions just made me scoff as well as want to just skip pages. I couldn't connect to them in anyway that made me root for them. I really wanted to like Chambers considering he is a forensic pathologist a field I want to get into, but I just still couldn't like him.

Anything thing that bothered me was even though this book is the first in it's series I felt as if I was missing a book, as if this was not the first but the second in a ongoing series. The characters would mention a person or a event that had occurred and I wondered if I have accidentally skipped something, I even made a search just to double check that this was the first book. It didn't give me the setup or backstory I needed, maybe that's why I couldn't connect to the characters because I felt like I was missing something.

I enjoyed this novel immensely, even given the fact that it's very light on plot. The premise is basically that someone is murdering people in the style of Vincent Price, or at least the characters he plays in various old horror movies. This is all well and good but does rather limit the plot, it being composed in the end of little more than a serious of vignettes of people being killed in gruesome ways. This was the stated aim of the novel though so I can't be too hard on him for that really.

I remember nearly all of the movies which made it a lot of fun, but I generally like my books to be a little more involved or maybe, you know, to be a little more than just a serious of interlinked scenes of someone killing someone else. Still, I liked it and it was very short. The irony is that the author's reviews of the movies at the end of the book are at least as enjoyable as the novel itself.

Having said all that I would recommend it to anyone who loves the old horror movies and had a pound or so to spare, which is a very good price for any novel, but especially one as entertaining as this even given it's negatives.

I was on the verge of giving it 3 stars but it was simply too much fun not to up it to 4. I suppose in the end, if you've seen the movie 'Theatre of Blood' then you'll know exactly what to expect with this offering.

So, great fun, but a bit too light on plot for my liking.

I saw this book at the library and was drawn to the "Lovecraft" in the title. I thought the cover art looked juvenile and like this would be a book with some humor in it. Boy was I wrong. This is definitely written for an adult audience, and it is not an attempt to be funny. This is a serious horror book.

The book feels like a mash up between the Lovecraftian Universe and Dante's Nine Circles of Hell. I enjoyed the beginning of the book, but once it became a "locked in a haunted house" story, it lost a lot of originality and interest for me. The people were taken over so easily. The monsters are so strong and so omnipotent that it feels like resistance is futile.

The descriptions of the various levels of hell seemed both unique and and the same time repetitive. Go to the next level of hell, get chased by the inhabitants, narrowly escape. Bleh. I started losing interest and just finished the book out of habit, not because I cared what happened.

This is supposed to be the first book in a series. I think it suffered because I did not care about the characters at all. Bob Chambers, who supposedly works for an organization investigating odd events, did not seem very competent. Karen, the journalist he teams up with, was annoying. Together, they made a pretty weak team. The more I write about the book, the less I like it, so I am going to stop now.

[Disclaimer: I received a free e-copy ARC of this book from NetGalley. Thank you to the publishers!]

As if to underscore my frustration with this book, for some reason my first attempt at a review didn't publish correctly.

I somewhat enjoyed the plot up until about 40% of the way in. It held my interest and I could see myself continuing with the series. However, the last 60% of the book was a confused, uninteresting morass that somehow combined the worst of a dry travelogue with a 9th grader's last-minute book report on Dante's Inferno. The plot became ancillary and the descriptions weren't near enough to make up for the sheer monotony.

I'm quite disappointed. This book had little to do with Lovecraftian horror except perhaps by adopting some of Howard's less likable writing foibles. At least there were female characters though. I suppose that's something to commend. The two stars are for the fact that the characters weren't awful and the beginning held promise.

I will not be continuing with this series.

My original Dead Shift audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

‘Lovecraftian’ is the word I’d use to describe this book.

I can also tick that off the list of 'Most Pretentious Things I've Ever Said'.

A homeless man is corrupted by a mysterious and evil book that he finds in suspicious circumstances, eventually convincing him to perform a ritual which allows a demon dimension to cross into ours. Of course, nobody knows that when he arrives at the hospital and undergoes treatment for his broken shoulder otherwise they might have reconsidered their decision to be quite so hospitable.

During his stay at Northcote Hospital, the old man causes an ancient evil to begin infecting the building… it’s too late for most of the inhabitants of the hospital but a few of the staff realise early on that something untoward is going on and try their best to reverse the evil taking over.

The book is dark, gritty and incredibly satisfying.

Though none of the characters are particularly complex, it’s the way that they all work together that makes their journey satisfying. Adding to that Barnes' ambitious decision to give each character a different regional accent, the diversity of a hospital environment is really brought to life.

Chris Barnes did a really good job with this book, keeping the pace flowing and enhancing the overall experience. I was really impressed with the number of accents that he incorporated in this performance, though his attempt at a scouse (Liverpool) accent slightly missed the mark. It's nice to hear a British audiobook which has a bit of variety rather than just the standard BBC English voice.

The story itself isn’t an original premise but there’s a reason demon raising rituals are a classic, this book is well written and compelling which is what stands it apart from the other books in this genre.

Audiobook was provided for review by the narrator.½

This tale was so spooky and Lovecraftian- any Horror Lover will fly through this! I was lucky enough to receive The Dead Shift, by John Llewellyn Probert, through LibraryThing.com I'd like to have this on my bookshelf, but I won the ebook. I'll have to check into this one in it's physical form.

The story is about things from the lower bowels of Hell wanting to press into our dimension. How do they do it? By taunting us simple mortals on the nearest plane of existence. Through the blood-filled pages of a book, and sheer, evil determination!

Tell me if you've heard this one before: A man is brought to a UK Emergency Room, suffering a self-inflicted injury. He uses his blood to create a diagram onto the floor of his side room that opens and forces him into another dimension while other- unworldly things, for lack of a better word, escape into ours - transforming the hospital into a doorway, and feeding ground for the hellish & grotesque!

No? You haven't heard that before? LOL

​ I love monsters, creatures undefined and deadly, man-eating and morphing plants! This ebook was a true nightmare. Dead Shift takes place in Northcote Hospital, a pretend facility, maybe South England. It started out describing a man on a bloody mission and how he found the mission, and it's dark and ends terribly for everyone nearby...

*For the full review: http://tinyurl.com/jub7pc3
**eBook provided by LibraryThing.com, for an honest review.​

What starts out as a typical night at the Northcote Hospital soon turns deadly as something is trying to break through into our universe and they are at it's epicenter.

The overall atmosphere and feel of the book was more creepy and unsettling than frightening especially once the action got started and the books pace became more frantic. While I feel the fast pace of the story telling helped keep the story moving without giving you to much time to get bogged down on details, it did make it harder to really let the horror of what was going on sink in and take hold.
And for all that we had so little time to spend with our main characters, they felt like real people and I was invested in what happened to them...a dangerous thing in a book like this.

The Lovecraft influence is strong and obvious but in no way feels derivative, the author has given it his own spin and I loved his take on what the creatures coming through would look like and how they would work. I found his creatures eerie and unsettling and yet also compelling.

I also love the cover art, it definitely clues you in to the fact that you are in for a fun ride.

This was a short, quick and awesome read, it was so much fun and I am looking forward to reading more from this author.

Dead Shift by John Llewellyn Probert is an entertaining read. It takes the Lovecraftean theme adds more action, plus some humor. Most Lovecraft wannabes I find a bit formulaic and so so, but this one had enough originality to it to keep me interested. The ending was somewhat anticlimactic, but seemed as if a sequel were possible. I would have liked a little more characterization. I didn't get really attached to any of the characters, so their deaths didn't have the impact they should have.

I enjoyed this book, I didn't really find it scary, but it was entertaining. If you like Stephen King, you'll really like Dead Shift- think of some of the monsters from King's stories, and you'll have an idea of what Dead Shift is like. I think the ending came on a little too abruptly and could have been fleshed out a little more, but other than that, really enjoyable read.

Dead Shift by John Llewellyn Probert is a horribly good book. LOL It has the horror, the dry humor and satire, and action to keep it a fun and exciting read. There is never a dull moment. Although it is a horror book, and meant to be taken as such, it has a lot of low key humor in it, which I enjoyed. Three friends take on stopping the end of the world. I was a night shift nurse for twenty years and that is hell enough but I never had a patient trying to open a portal to hell before, in the hospital no less. Very entertaining and creative characters and great plot. Enjoyed it greatly. Won this book from LibraryThing.

I really enjoyed this book. A quick horror read that kept you on your toes. It was easy to visualize what was happening, the author is very descriptive. I will read from him again!

The beginning was great, I loved the humorous undertones and the fast-forward plot. I sympathized with the characters and enjoyed their banter. However, towards the end I felt lost, just like the main characters running around the hospital. The idea of having different horrific creatures on each level of the building was great, but it seemed like a listing of striking scenarios rather than a coherent plot. I missed background detail on the mysterious book, the different layers and the world they came from. While I usually prefer fast paced action that doesn't linger to describe each setting in detail, I felt there was something important missing here that would have made the story more 'whole'.

(I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review)